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Data

Monthly sea ice extent in the Arctic

About this data

Monthly sea ice extent in the Arctic
Each point represents the monthly average sea ice extent.
Source
National Snow and Ice Data Center - Sea Ice Index (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
May 13, 2026
Next expected update
July 2026
Date range
1–12
Unit
million square kilometers

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

National Snow and Ice Data Center – Sea Ice Index

Retrieved on
May 13, 2026
Retrieved from
https://nsidc.org/data/g02135/
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Fetterer, F., Knowles, K., Meier, W. N., Savoie, M., Windnagel, A. K. & Stafford, T. (2025). Sea Ice Index. (G02135, Version 4). [Data Set]. Boulder, Colorado USA. National Snow and Ice Data Center. https://doi.org/10.7265/a98x-0f50.
Retrieved on
May 13, 2026
Retrieved from
https://nsidc.org/data/g02135/
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Fetterer, F., Knowles, K., Meier, W. N., Savoie, M., Windnagel, A. K. & Stafford, T. (2025). Sea Ice Index. (G02135, Version 4). [Data Set]. Boulder, Colorado USA. National Snow and Ice Data Center. https://doi.org/10.7265/a98x-0f50.

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

Read about our data pipeline

Reuse this work

  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
  • All data, visualizations, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license. You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.

Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Monthly sea ice extent in the Arctic”, part of the following publication: Hannah Ritchie, Pablo Rosado, and Veronika Samborska (2024) - “Climate Change”. Data adapted from National Snow and Ice Data Center. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260514-093931/grapher/monthly-sea-ice-extent-in-the-arctic.html [online resource] (archived on May 14, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

National Snow and Ice Data Center - Sea Ice Index (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data

Full citation

National Snow and Ice Data Center - Sea Ice Index (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Monthly sea ice extent in the Arctic” [dataset]. National Snow and Ice Data Center, “Sea Ice Index Version 4” [original data]. Retrieved May 14, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260514-093931/grapher/monthly-sea-ice-extent-in-the-arctic.html (archived on May 14, 2026).

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